EthnocentrismandEthnorelativism民族优越感和民族相对主义

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1、EthnocentrismandEthnorelativism 1 Ifweacceptthebeliefthatourpastinfluencesourviewofrealityandthecorrespondingtenet（n.信条）thateachofusmayhavesimilarbutnotidenticalpersonalhistories,thenitshouldfollowthatanotherperson'spictureoftheuniversewillnotbeexactlylikeours.Yetmostofusactasifourwayofperceivingth

2、ingsisthecorrectandonlyway. 2 Inourdailyactivitiesthesedifferencesinperceptionappearbetweendifferentgroups.Variousgenerations,minorities,occupations,andcultureshaveconflictingvaluesandgoalsthatwillinfluencetheirorientationandinterpretationofreality. 3 Ourcultureisamajorfactorinperceptualdiscrepanc

3、ies.Culturehelpssupplyuswithourperspectiveofreality.Forexample,ifourculturesadmiresthinwomen,thenwewouldtendtohavenegativereactions（atleastconcerningappearance）toculturesthatvenerate（v.尊敬）thestoutfemale.Undoubtedly,weevaluatethembyourgroup'sculturalstandards.Ourculturetellsus,inavarietyofways,howtoj

4、udgeothersandwhattouseascriteriaforthosejudgments.Thedangerofsuchevaluationsisthattheyareoftenfalse,misleading,andarbitrary.Itistrulyanaiveviewoftheworldtobelieveandbehaveasifweandourculturehavediscoveredthetrueandonlysetofnorms. 4 Whenourperceptionsandsubsequentcommunicationbehaviorarecharacterize

5、dbythisnarrowandrigidorientation,weareguiltyofethnocentrism,thatis,negativelyjudgingaspectsofanotherculturebythestandardsofone'sownculture.Theword“ethnocentrism”isderivedfromtwoGreekwords:ethnos,or“nation”;andkentron,or“center.”Itisthetechnicalnamefortheviewofthingsinwhichone'sowngroupisthecenterofe

6、verything,andallothersarescaledandratedwithreferencetoit.Thissuggeststhatethnocentrismoccurswhenournationisseenasthecenteroftheworldandthebeliefs,values,norms,andpracticesofourownculturearetakenassuperiortothoseofothers. 5 Inotherwords,ethnocentrismreferstoourtendencytoidentifywithourin-group（e.g.e

7、thnicorracialgroup,culture）andtoevaluateout-groupsandtheirmembersaccordingtoitsstandard.Becauseofethnocentrism,wetendtoviewourownculturalvaluesandwaysofdoingthingsasmorereal,orasthe“right”andnaturalvaluesandwaysofdoingthings.Themajorconsequenceoftheviewisourin-group'svaluesandwaysofdoingthingsaresee

8、nassuperiortotheout-groups'valuesandwaysofdoingthings. 6 Theaboveshouldnotbetakentosuggestethnocentrismisalwaysdeliberate.Oftentheexpressionofethnocentrismisafunctionofhowwearesocialized.PeoplebornandraisedintheUnitedStates,forexample,aretaughtmanysubtlecuessuggestingtheUnitedStatesisthecenterofthe

9、world.Considerthemajorleaguebaseballchampionshipseriesplayedbetweenthewinnersofthetwoleagues.IsitcalledtheUnitedStatesSeries?No,obviouslynot;itiscalledtheWorldSeries,implyingthatnoothernationhasbaseballteams（grantedtherearenowCanadianteamsintheWorldSeries,butnoJapanese,Korean,orMexicanteams）.Another

10、exampleofthetendencyforpeopleintheUnitedStatestoviewtheircountryasthecenteroftheworldisintheuseoftheterm“American.”WemustrememberthatcitizensoftheothercountriesfromNorth,Central,andSouthAmericaarealso“Americans.”（someotherexamples:China-MiddleKingdom） 7 Ethnocentrismcanalltooeasilyleadto“us”versus“

11、them”thoughtandlanguage.Itseemsaspeoplecreateacategorycalled“us,”anothercategoryof“not-us”or“them”iscreated.Thecollectivepronouns“us,”and“them”becomepowerfulinfluencesonperception.Thenamesgivento“them"canbeusedtojustifytheirsuppression（镇压）andeventheirextermination（根除）.（Forexample,Jews:bacilli（病菌），pa

12、rasite（寄生虫），disease,demon（恶魔）,plague（瘟疫）；NativeAmericans:savage;“LaoWai".） 8 Bycontrast,ethnorelativismmaintainsthatculturescanonlybeunderstoodrelativetoanother;thereisnoabsolutestandardofrightnessorgoodnessthatcanbeappliedtoculturalbehavior;culturaldifferencesisneithergoodnorbad;itisjustdifferent.

13、Eachculturehasitsuniquewayofjudgingandcomparingculturaldissonance（不一致）.Inotherwords,ethonorelarivisminvolvestheviewthatallculturesareofequalvalueandthevaluesandbehaviorofaculturecanonlybejudgedusingthatculturesasaframeofreference. 9 Ethnorelativismsuggeststhattheonlywaywecanunderstandthebehaviorofo

14、thersisinthecontextoftheirculture.Evaluationsmustberelativetotheculturalbackgroundoutofwhichtheyraise.Nooneculturaltraitis“right"or“wrong";itismerely“different"fromalternativeculturaltraits.Thisisnottosaywemustnevermakevaluejudgmentsofpeopleinothercultures.Makingthemisoftennecessary.Butitdoescallforustosuspendjudgmentwhendealingwithpeopleofaculturedifferentfromourown.Weshouldthinktwicebeforeapplyingthenormsofourculturetoothercultures.Adequateinformationaboutthenatureoftheculturaldifferencesbetweenpeoples,theirrootsandtheirconsequences,shouldprecedejudgmentandaction.